PTI Chairman Imran Khan Tuesday urged the Supreme Court to take notice of a ‘blatant violation’ of the Constitution and law in Punjab after the federal government removed Governor Omar Sarfraz Cheema through a late-night notification. In a statement, Imran urged the top court take ‘immediate notice of the blatant violation of the Constitution and the law in Punjab’. His statement comes after the federal government issued the notification in the early hours of Tuesday on the heels of a ‘strong rejection’ of a summary by President Arif Alvi calling for Cheema’s removal. “Imported puppets are stirring up constitutional anarchy and chaos in Punjab,” Imran said. “First, a criminal puppet was imposed on the province as a chief minister through a ghost election. Now, keeping all constitutional requirements aside, the office of the president has been insulted.” He condemned what he termed an embarrassing attempt to remove the Punjab governor because of his insistence on protecting the Constitution. Imran said the ‘blatant violation’ of the Constitution in Punjab was being watched in silence; therefore, the Supreme Court must take suo motu notice of the situation, given its sensitivity, says a news report.
Meanwhile, Omer Sarfraz Cheema rejected the Cabinet Division notification for his removal, terming it “unconstitutional”. In a tweet, Cheema said the president had rejected the summary in light of the “extraordinary” situation, and yet the Cabinet Division’s “unconstitutional” notification was issued.
He added that he was consulting constitutional experts and would soon announce his future course of action. Cheema said the summary for his removal sent by the premier to the president was rejected due to ‘exceptional circumstances’ but the Cabinet Division still issued the notification for his removal. Cheema’s removal as governor follows a long-winded saga that centred on the election and subsequent oath-taking of Punjab Chief Minister Hamza Shehbaz.
Hamza was elected chief executive of the province on April 16 in a Punjab Assembly session marred by violence and chaos. His oath-taking, however, was delayed for weeks as Cheema refused to administer oath to him, casting aspersions on the validity of his election.
Subsequently, Hamza approached the Lahore High Court (LHC) several times – first on April 21 – and sought its intervention in the matter. The court had then directed President Alvi to appoint a representative to administer the oath in the absence of the governor.
But a delay by the president in following the court’s directive saw Hamza approach the court again on April 25. This time, he had asked the LHC to instruct Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani to administer oath to him, following which LHC Chief Justice Ameer Bhatti had directed Cheema to complete Hamza’s oath-taking process by April 28. When the president and governor still failed to follow the court’s instructions, Hamza sought the LHC’s intervention for a third time on April 29.
The court had then directed the National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf to administer the oath to Hamza, who was sworn in as the chief minister the very next day. Hours before Hamza’s oath-taking, Cheema had announced that he had rejected the resignation of Hamza’s predecessor, Usman Buzdar – who had stepped down as the provincial chief executive on March 28 – declaring it “not constitutionally valid” as Buzdar had addressed his resignation to then-prime minister Imran Khan, but was accepted by Cheema’s predecessor Chaudhry Sarwar. Cheema had later gone on to call Hamza a “fake chief minister” and derided his oath-taking as “unconstitutional”. The PTI has also challenged Hamza’s election in the LHC.